Pacific Rim Review

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2013)

Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim is a movie that the 10 year old in all of us wants to see. The film is action packed and what makes this movie even more awesome is that a majority of the fight scenes are between giant robots and giant aliens. While the acting wasn't the greatest in Pacific Rim, the special effects and originality of the story overcome the bad acting to make an awesome film that is fun for all ages.
Before getting into these intense action scenes, the film first develops a backstory that explains to the audience what is happening. There are these gigantic monsters that are known as Kaiju (Japanese for "monster") and they are invading Earth via a portal that is located deep in the Pacific Ocean (hence the name of the film). In order to combat these the nations of the world work together to build giant robots known as Jaegers (German for "hunter") and these are piloted by two people (three in one robot) whose minds are melded in "the Drift". With the Jaegers the Kaiju are becoming less of a threat, so much so that they are turned into toys. It isn't until the Kaiju become stronger and appear more frequently that the real story begins.
The film suffered a bit from the acting. While the performances from Idris Elba, Ron Perlman, Charlie Day, and to some extent Burn Gorman, were phenomenal, many others were not. Idris Elba's acting really stands out in the film. Many of the other performances, especially Charlie Hunnam, were pretty bad and almost cringe-worthy. Many of the lines that come out of Charlie Hunnam's mouth are just terrible, not only in terms of the actual lines, but also the way that he says them. Two of his lines that come up immediately in the film, "Tendo. What's happening my man?" and "You're gonna get your ass kicked" are not only lame lines, but the way that he says them is very monotonous and it's impossible to infer any emotion from them. He's about to go out and fight a Kaiju and it's impossible to tell how the character is feeling. Even his facial expressions are bland, I couldn't tell whether what he was feeling at any point during the movie. Fortunately, not all of the acting is as bad as Hunnam's. Idris Elba is probably the film's best actor and it really shows in his character Stacker Pentecost. Right before the major battle in the film, when Elba gives his "canceling the Apocalypse" speech not only does he sound inspiring, but you can even see the emotion in his facial expressions. During that speech I couldn't help but get pumped to kick some alien butt.
The entire film relies on the look of the Kaiju and Jaegers; fortunately, Del Toro spared no expense on the special effects and this is where the film really shines. It becomes evident in the first 10 minutes of the film that the special effects are outstanding. Unlike other movies that rely heavily on special effects (see Transformers) the special effects in "Pacific Rim" are perfect. Even in the dark rainy fight sequences it is still possible to understand what is going on and who is fighting who. While the fight sequences in "ransformers were confusing and overfilled with explosions, the fight scenes in Pacific Rim are intense, but easy to comprehend.
Pacific Rim, although it isn't going to win any Oscars, it still is an extremely enjoyable movie. The acting and script aren't extraordinary by any means, but that wasn't to be expected seeing what the movie is about. What really makes the movie are the special effects. By going into it expecting to see intense fight scenes between giant robots and aliens one can't but be impressed by the film.